Not So Different
by FropessionalWriter
Summary: (3/3) At last, it isn't just Jay and Cole at the monastery. However, Sensei Wu's new pupil seems a bit odd to the two of them. Thus, they avoid talking to him the first day and instead, begin watching him from afar. The next day, however, Cole finally decides to see what Zane is really like. Third to my first oneshot Bonding. Takes place before the pilots.


**I think this is my last part to that Bonding series - although now it's technically a trilogy! This one is a bit short than the other two but leight doesn't matter, right? As long as it's great... That's all that matters :)**

* * *

The door closed shut and Jay turned his was around, looking over his shoulder. Cole stood by the entrance, with his head leaning back against the door.

"Uh, whatcha doin?" Jay asked him.

Cole walked towards Jay and took a seat beside him on the couch. "I just need a moment away from, yanno what, for a bit."

Jay flipped through the channels, giving Cole a shrug. "Eh, ya. That new guy is kinda weird. - hey, ow!" Jay rubbed his arm while shooting Cole a death glare. "What was that for?"

"Don't call him weird."

"But he is weird."

"You probably think he's weird because you haven't spent enough time to get to know him."

"Yeah well you haven't either…" Jay mumbled softly, folding his arms while the TV remained on a cooking channel. He slid his feet in front of him and slouched on the couch. "His name is Zane, right?"

"I think so… Sensei said we should spend some time with him."

Jay set the remote on the armrest and lolled his head back. "Eh, imma stay and watch for a bit. You go ahead and do your thing." He said to Cole with a wave of his hand. Cole stood up with a huff and headed for the door. "Oh and shut the door when you leave, I like the cool air in here. It's too hot out there."

Closing the door behind him, Cole put a hand to his face in annoyance.

Jay was always staying cooped up in a room, watching television or sleeping. There was one time where Jay had decided to finally do something other than sitting on the couch, but that was when the monastery was all out on scraps and supplies. Jay had the urge to build something but when he couldn't find anything he gave up and turned on the TV.

Luckily, Cole didn't have to look far to find Zane because he found him standing by the open monastery doors.

"Hey, Zane," Cole said, sounding as casual as possible. "Whatcha looking at?"

The new student turned his head and scanned Cole from top to bottom before answering. "Are you Jay?"

Cole snorted. "Heh, no, I'm Cole. Jay's the other one. The short one with the brownish red hair. He's in there," Cole finished, pointing a thumb over his shoulder directly at the TV room.

"Cole? Do you want to do something?"

"Sure! Any ideas?"

Zane shook his head.

"Hmm, there's not much to do here at the monastery…" Cole pursed his lips in thought of where they could go or what they could do.

"We could stay here."

"Yeah! I got an idea…"

* * *

"Jay!"

The sound of the doors slamming open gave Jay such a startle, that it caused him to jump backwards in fear. He stared at Cole with eyes wide open and hands clenching the fabric of the couch tightly.

"What. THE HECK, COLE?!"

"We're gonna play 'Would You Rather'. Wanna play?"

Jay shrunk back into his seat and picked up the remote, changing channels once again. "No thanks, I'm good."

"Too bad. You got no choice." Cole stood up and blocked Jay's view of the television, holding out his hand asking for the remote. Jay frowned and slapped the remote in Cole's hand, slouching lower in his seat. "Thank you," Cole sing - songed and switched off the TV before waving Zane over to their side. "Alright, Zane. So the rules of the game are, you basically ask a person a couple questions starting with, _would you rather_ … and then you give two options for the person to decide on what they would rather do." He looked to Jay. "Wanna demonstrate it for him?"

"Sure, why not."

Cole drummed his fingers against his thigh, thinking of what to ask Jay. "Umm… would you rather be cursed to talk in rhyme for the rest of your life or always speak the truth?"

"Psh, that's easy! Rhyme! If I spoke the truth for the rest of my life that'd probably be embarrassing."

"Uh - huh… okay then, your turn. Ask me something."

"Would you rather be locked in a room with your worst fear for a day, or be locked in a house for the rest of your life?"

"Well… my worst fear is _you_."

Jay's brows drew inwards and he stared at Cole with a half smile as if saying 'gee thanks'.

"Just kidding. But I'd have to go with option one." He turned to Zane. "You get it now?"

Zane nodded in response. "Must they all be something past your comfort zone?"

"Hahah, no, Zane. They could be anything! It could be anything, liiiiiike spend the day with your favorite actor or live a block away from them!" Jay chuckled nervously when he heard his own words. "Man, that's actually a tough one for me."

"Shall we begin then?" Zane asked them.

And so they began. They went in a circle, starting from Cole, to Jay, to lastly, Zane. Things were flowing pretty smoothly and they shared laughs throughout the game as well. Jay came up with the funniest ones, Cole's were difficult from time to time, and Zane's definitely required a lot of thought.

Surprisingly, this was actually a whole lot of fun for Jay. In all honesty, he actually enjoyed playing games with them, rather than sitting in front of the TV.

He got to learn more about Zane during the game, and quite a bit more about Cole too. The game made him realize Zane wasn't as bad as he thought; the guy would seem a little out of it time to time, but all in all, he was a great person to be around. That got him thinking if Zane had any friends or acquaintances before Sensei Wu found him.

When Cole left to grab a drink of water, Jay scooted closer to Zane.

"So, Zane… what was your life like before you came here?"

Zane turned his head to Jay. "Oh? I wandered around a lot, until I came across a village, and rested there. Each day I would go outside to its lake and sit at the bottom for as long as I could." He paused for a brief moment. "Then one day, I found Wu sitting down there as well drinking tea. I do not know how it is possible to drink tea underwater, but he made the impossible look possible."

Jay laughed as he pictured that in his head. "Sensei Wu likes tea… a lot."

Zane nodded. "Most definitely."

"Hey, Zane…? I'm sorry."

Zane raised a brow in question. "About what?"

"When Sensei Wu first introduced you to us, I thought you were a bit… weird… and strange. I'm sorry I judged you before getting the chance to actually hang with you."

Jay bowed his head but flinched when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looked up at Zane and smiled back at him.

"It's alright, Jay. Everybody has a habit of judging people and things. I'm sure Cole felt the same as well."

Jay chuckled softly. "Heh, naw. Well maybe a little? But he's the one who knew that getting to know our new _roommate_ would help us get closer with each other and… not think of you as weird…" Jay sighed and put a hand to his forehead. "You know, you may act a little strange sometimes, but that doesn't change anything between us, right? I guess we're all friends now."

Jay flashed Zane a smile. Zane caught it and smiled back at him.

* * *

At nighttime, Cole woke up at the sound of the doors creaking to a close. He laid in bed for a few minutes before getting out of bed to follow the sound.

Opening the door, he saw the silhouette of a person sitting on the stone step at the entrance to the monastery. Cole walked closer to the figure. As he neared, he saw the faint outline of Jay - or more specific, Jay's back. Without saying a word, he quietly sat down beside Jay on the pavement and put his hands beside him on the ground. Jay brought his knees up to his chest.

After keeping the silence between them for a few minutes, he finally spoke. "Is there a reason you're up at this time?"

"Zane didn't mention anything about a family before he came here… what if he didn't have any parents?" He looked to Cole, a flash of pain in his eyes. "What about you?"

Cole opened his mouth, but closed it quickly to avoid anything from being said. His head tilted and his eyes drifted to the ground. "I - I already told you how Sensei Wu found me."

"But what about _your_ parents?"

"I don't remember my Mom, Jay. All I have now is my Dad."

"Oh," Jay muttered under his breath and stared up at the starry sky. Jay had both his parents. He _remembered_ both his parents. They supported him, took care of him, and loved him with all their heart. He wouldn't dream of having anyone else as his Mom and Dad. Then, he thought about Zane's family, and Cole's.

Zane didn't know anything about his parents.

Cole only knew his father.

None of them had any siblings.

"We should play another game tomorrow," Jay finally said.

Cole's saddened expression lifted. "Yeah, sure. Maybe we could take Zane to Jamanakai Village too."

"Ya know, it got me thinking, the closer we are to each other… We're kinda like… the Three Musketeers - or three blind mice!" Jay's laughter crescendoed louder then came back down when he noticed how silent Cole was being.

"You know, it's funny… the three of us were recruited by this wise old man, but for what? Just to become Ninja?" Cole started, startling Jay.

"Yeah, yeah, what about it?"

Cole continued to speak, his voice getting lower with every sentence. "Why would a man we've never met before in our lives ask us to join a team of Ninja?... What if there's something more to this? It's been haunting me since two days ago, Jay. I can't stop thinking about it."

Jay froze. He didn't know how to respond. When Sensei had left to fetch a third pupil, Cole never said anything like this to Jay that required him to actually stop and think for a moment. He shivered from the cold and the haunting words from Cole.

Pulling himself together, he scooted a bit closer to Cole for warmth and sat up straight. "Well, _don't_ think about it that way. He recruited _us_ and look at us right now! I didn't have many people to talk to, or to sit with, or to play with before this. It was just me and my parents and my inventions. I think without Sensei Wu, we wouldn't have gotten to known each other."

Jay was right. Before any of this ever happened, Cole had run away from school and where had he ended up? Doing a bunch of outdoor activities and rock climbing with no one to share experiences with and no one to hang out with.

Cole leaned back to gaze up at the sky, his eyes darting from star to star. "Maybe by the end of all of this, the three of us will be closer than when we first met. What do you think? Friendship is a pretty great relationship, isn't it? And it's probably the one I need the most right now."

"I think it's what all three of us need right now." Jay said to him. "Hey… uh, would you call us friends?"

"It's a start."

* * *

 **Hope you all enjoyed! And ya know what? If you guys have any requests, leave one! And I might just do it! It doesn't have to relate to this fic in any way whatsoever :)**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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